Out in the Dark Read online

  Had he lowered his defenses? Had they sensed his thoughts? Both looked at him with suspicion on their faces.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Can we trust you?” Shelley said, narrowing her eyes and leaning in close. She knew how to make a man uncomfortable.

  “I told you,” Paul said, maintaining a vulnerable look. “I told you, you can trust me.”

  “Don’t you think we know too much now?” Jake scooted forward on the bed, moving closer to the man. Jake looked like an animal ready to jump up and attack.

  “Why would you think that? You know very little compared to your father.”

  “And you know he’ll still make good on his threat to go to the media.” Jake glared at Paul with unbridled hostility. “You played me to get to my dad. You want him out of the way and then me and then Shelley.”

  Paul got up slowly, realizing a sudden move would provoke an attack and he wasn’t sure in his current state if he would be able to fight off both kids. Not with the kind of anger he could sense welling up in them.

  He backed away toward the door. “Look, you’ve got the wrong idea. I’m not a cold-blooded killer. I want to see Kevin safely away from this. I don’t want to hurt either one of you. You have to trust me.”

  “And what if we don’t?” Jake jumped up from the bed and rushed past Paul toward the door. He leaned against it and crossed his arms, glaring at Paul.

  “What then, Mr. Thomson?” Shelley added, coming over and standing next to Jake. The exit was now thoroughly blocked. A terrible thought was gaining strength in Jake’s mind.

  “Look, kids,” Paul began, then realized he was insulting them. “Jake, Shelley, I realize I may have let my guard down, but what you saw was my own internal struggle, not a decision. I’m a marked man myself. Surely you understand that.”

  “No, we don’t,” Jake said. “You were able to walk away from being hit by a car, and then from that car accident you caused. They let you just walk away to find us? They want me, don’t they?” Jake’s face was now only a few inches from Paul’s. “Don’t they? They want to use me…to force my father to do their dirty work. Am I right?” Jake kept his cool because suddenly everything seemed very clear. He had to get away from Paul and his stories, but he also had to make sure he was not caught by the group Paul was a part of. He could see it all so clearly now. He had been manipulated, used, just like his father.

  “Jake, I can understand you’re angry, but you’ve got it all wrong.” Paul tried to soothe the boy, but had little experience dealing with teens and was pushing all the wrong buttons.

  Jake pulled his dad’s old revolver from the back of his waistband and pointed it at the center of Paul’s forehead. Shelley suppressed a scream, but said nothing to stop Jake.

  For a few moments no one moved or made a sound. The sounds from the world on the other side of the door seemed loud and intrusive. Car doors slammed, voices spoke in harsh tones. The noise came rushing into the room where the tense stand-off continued. Jake’s hand was as steady as was his gaze as he stared into Paul’s eyes. He was beginning to see the whole picture and it was ugly.

  “Where are they holding him?” he said slowly and deliberately. Shelley sensed what was going on in Jake’s mind. They were becoming extraordinarily tuned in to each other. With anyone else she would have wondered about it, but not with Jake. He was her link to Melvin, somehow.

  “I don’t know, Jake.” Paul met his gaze without fear. “Put down the gun, you don’t want to do this.”

  “You’re right about that, I don’t, but I will if you keep jerking me around.” Jake’s voice remained calm and steady. “Where is he?”

  “Seriously, Jake, I don’t know. Only you can find him, but only I can get him out.” A slight hint of discomfort started to creep in around the edge of Paul’s voice.

  “Why?” Jake asked. “Do you know the secret handshake that will get you in?” Sarcasm came easily.

  “No.” Paul risked a small smile, but he was underestimating Jake. “I know how to disarm their defensive systems. And trust me, they will have that place locked up tighter than Fort Knox.”

  “And you just happen to know how to get in, do you?” Shelley chimed in.

  “Not yet, but I can figure it out. I have training and experience. You two have nothing.”

  Jake narrowed his eyes for a moment, but kept his emotions in check. “Nothing?” he said, waving the pistol in front of Paul’s face.

  “Oh, put that away, Jake. You and I both know you won’t use it.”

  Chapter 25

  A loud knock on the door shifted the tension to a new level. Jake looked at Shelley who looked through the peephole.

  “They found us,” she mouthed.

  Jake didn’t hesitate. He hit Paul hard on the side of the head. The older man slumped against the wall, caught off-guard. Shelley lithely jumped over Paul. She tossed on her sweater and jacket and grabbed her bag. Jake followed her as she led him to the bathroom. There was a window there and they might be able to escape through it.

  Another loud knock on the door, quickly followed by another one. The knocking turned into banging and then the sound of wood splintering.

  Standing on tiptoe Shelley slid open the window. It wouldn’t slide far, but it appeared to be enough to slip through. Neither she nor Jake was hampered by any extra layers.

  A quick look out told her no guard had been posted outside. She dove through the window, landing roughly on the walkway. At least she had remembered to tuck and roll, as Melvin had taught her, and she got away with only a few bruises.

  Jake was a little less elegant, but fast nonetheless.

  They grabbed their bags and ran for the safety of the Pontiac. Behind them they could hear Paul being dressed down. Jake paused only for a moment to hear, “You let them get away again! That’s gonna cost you. We need that kid!” Just as he’d suspected. Paul was in league with them.

  Jake started the car and threw it in reverse. With screeching tires he peeled out of the parking space and without looking back or to the side, he raced out of the maze-like motel complex. The old folks running it could figure out how to get their towels back on their own.

  As if operating on instinct, he found his way back to the freeway. He decided to loop around the city and try to find a better place to hide.

  Shelley turned around in her seat to keep an eye on the road behind them. She had to hold on pretty tight to keep from being flung all over while Jake maneuvered his way back to the freeway.

  “I think we’re clear for the moment,” she said, turning around again and buckling her seat belt. They were well past the city center and almost on the other side of town. “Where do we go now?”

  Jake shrugged. The adrenalin rush was fading and he felt lost and cold. He knew they were close. He could feel they were getting closer to where his father was, but he couldn’t figure out where to go. He wanted to rest, take a shower and look at a map in peace without being chased or harassed or shot at.

  He wished Shelley weren’t in danger with him but he was glad she was there in the car next to him.

  “How about that speck of a town over there in the distance?” Shelley pointed to a cluster of buildings to the left of the freeway some miles up ahead.

  “I suppose.” Jake was glad to follow her suggestion. He didn’t want to have to think; his mind was in too much of a jumble. He could feel the gun pressing against his leg as he put his foot down on the accelerator. He’d just tossed it into the car. Would he have shot Paul? At that moment perhaps, but he did not want to think about it.

  What Shelley had identified as a small town, turned out to be an industrial complex. Just a sprawling collection of tech businesses mixed in with the occasional deli or coffee shop. No places to hide out for the night.

  Jake drove all around the complex and finally parked in front of an unassuming coffee shop devoid of customers. It jutted out at an angle from the building it was attached to, which meant Jake could park the car
in such a way as not to be seen from the access road at all.

  “Coffee?” he said cheerfully.

  Shelley laughed. She could feel the tension slipping from her and she threw her arms around Jake, planting a big kiss on his cheek.

  “What was that for?” he asked, holding her at arm’s length. He was again struck by her eyes and felt an overwhelming urge to kiss her, hard, on the mouth, but something inside pulled him back.

  “Nothing,” she said, suddenly serious again. “I’m just glad to be alive.”

  “You know, you can still catch a bus for Arizona. You don’t have to stay and risk your life with me.” Jake meant it too, much as he was starting to rely on her. He knew it wasn’t fair to expect her to stay.

  “No, I can’t leave you now,” she said softly. You need me…and I need you. You’re like family, Jake Hanson, I can’t leave you. Besides, you never know when you might need someone with my talents to distract a guard.” Her last sentence stabbed him like a knife. Just when he was beginning to forget her past, she brought it back into the light for him to look at. He suppressed a shudder and faked a smile. He was thinking of all the hurtful things he could say to her but he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to hurt her, ever.

  “I was hoping you would never have to be Portia again. You deserve better,” he said, knowing it was the right thing to say. In time he might be able to fully get over her past.

  Shelley looked away and tried to smile as well, but he could see a glistening in the corner of her eye. If she started to cry he didn’t know what he would do. He wasn’t feeling all that strong and invincible himself, despite having escaped death yet again.

  There seemed nothing else to say, so he got out of the car and waited for Shelley to pull herself together. He admired her strength; just when he thought she would go completely to pieces she would surprise him. Jessica would have gone to pieces miles back.

  He wondered how Jessica was doing, but figured she would have found comfort with Brandon, and perhaps that was for the best.

  He pulled his phone from his pocket and briefly thought about looking at her picture again, but slid the phone back into his jeans. Jessica was from another life, not one he could ever go back to.

  “I hope they serve something other than coffee. I’m so sick of coffee right now,” Shelley said, closing the car door and walking toward the coffee shop. She didn’t wait for Jake, knowing he would follow her and she didn’t want him to see her sadness. She was afraid he might never be able to fully see past her previous life, that it might stand between them.

  Jake slid into the back booth, and Shelley sat down across from him. Jake had already identified another exit. It appeared to lead into the main building, which might be useful if they needed to escape again.

  “You got to order at the counter, I don’t do waitressing!” the woman behind the counter called out to them. “And you can’t stay if you don’t order anything, and I don’t allow making out in my establishment. This is a respectable place!”

  “Coming,” Jake called out, making faces at Shelley, which made her crack up. “No doubt they’re religious here too. We’ll have to pay a deposit on the cups before we get the coffee.”

  Shelley giggled helplessly, clutching her stomach and leaning against the back of the booth.

  Jake smiled. He enjoyed making her laugh. He got up and with his hands in his pockets he sauntered over to the counter, surveying the offerings.

  “You’re not thinking of robbing me are you?” the woman asked. “’Cause if you are, you got the wrong joint, mister.” She pulled a gun from under the counter and showed Jake.

  He quickly raised his hands and made soothing sounds. “No, ma’am. Just want something to eat and some tea. Been on the road a long time and still got many more miles to go before we’re home again.” He had no idea why he said that, but somehow it seemed to sit well with the woman. She wore a short, pink dress and a white frilly apron. Something out of a bygone era. Her bottle-blond hair was piled high and sprayed into place. He half expected to see a little hat or pink-visor-type thing perched on it, but all he found was a pink frilly barrette. Her face looked too old for so much girly frippery. She had deep grooves in her forehead and around her mouth, while her eyes were surrounded by a stampede of crow’s feet. Only her hands looked smooth and young, with well-manicured, bright pink nails. Jake found he couldn’t stop staring at them.

  “I work as a mortician on the weekends,” the woman said with some pride, when she caught him looking at her hands. When Jake didn’t comment, she added, “It’s the embalming fluid…keeps my hands looking smooth and feeling soft.” All the while she waved her hands in front of his face.

  “Right,” Jake said slowly. Embalming fluid. He looked at Shelley who gave him a wide-eyed look, which he returned, sending her back into spasms of giggles.

  “So, what’ll you have then? I’m Louise, by the way.” She held out her hand to Jake who hesitated for a moment before shaking it. It felt unnaturally smooth.

  “Jake,” he said, reluctantly. He’d never touched the hands of a mortician before and truly hoped he would never again.

  He ordered some soup and two cups of tea and some chips. Not that he felt hungry, but he figured the amount of time they would be allowed to stay in Louise’s establishment was in direct proportion to how much they ordered.

  “Got a map of the area by any chance?” he asked. He had a hunch that a more detailed map of the Reno area might help him narrow down where his father was.

  “Sure do. I’ll let you kids look at it, free of charge,” Louise said cheerfully.

  “That’s very kind of you,” Jake said, wondering who would charge someone to look at a map. Shelley still did not have her giggles under control and it seemed everything Louise said was hysterically funny to her

  “Your friend there all right?” Louise asked when she brought over the soup and tea. Despite her earlier protestations to the contrary, she’d happily offered to bring their order to the table.

  “Thanks.” Jake moved the bowls of soup to the side to make room for the map. “Oh, she’s fine, just tired. We’ve been on the road since early this morning.” He hoped that would satisfy the woman.

  “You might want to find a place to spend the night. There’s a bad storm coming in tonight, with lots of snow,” Louise said with authority, her hands on her hips and her nose pointed in the air, as if sniffing out the weather.

  Jake looked at Shelley, who instantly snapped back to reality, all signs of laughter gone. They were going to run out of money if they kept having to pay for motel rooms. Also, a motel would be the first place Paul and his pals would look for them.

  “Ain’t got no money for a motel, have you?” Louise asked.

  “Well…” Jake stammered.

  “I saw how carefully you counted out your dollars and change. I know how hard it is on the road, especially for college kids like you two. Oh, I could see you were the college kind. Not troublemakers like some of the punks we get around here sometimes. The ones that work in the warehouse across there,” she said, waving her hand in that direction.

  Shelley frowned.

  “Yes, well…as you said, the road is expensive.” Jake chose his words carefully. “We ran into a bit of car trouble earlier. Cost us a bit more than we’d budgeted for.”

  “You two must be a couple, am I right?” Louise changed the subject again. “I can tell. You got that look about you.”

  “We met in college, first day of the first quarter.” Shelley decided it was her turn; she could see this subject was out of Jake’s league.

  “I knew it. That’s so sweet. He treat you right, honey?”

  “Oh, yes, lots of fun and excitement.” Shelley beamed up at the woman in pink whose face was now a scrunched-up bunch of lines, which she took to mean Louise was smiling. Why didn’t she use the embalming fluid on her face? It did wonders for her hands, Shelley thought to herself.

  “Good. Now you two eat up.” Here it
came, the time limit. “My shift is almost up and you two can follow me home and stay with me for the night. You look just about done in and the company will do me good. It’s been lonely since Lester died last week. And I’ve got plenty of room since the last of my girls moved out.”

  Jake put his spoon down in surprise.

  “Lester?” Shelley asked in a small voice. She was a little afraid to ask.

  “Yes, he was a real sweetie, but it’s not so bad. I still have Murphy and Dexter.” She strolled off and started tidying up behind the counter.

  It seemed Louise had made up her mind; Shelley and Jake would spend the night at her house and she wouldn’t hear of anything to the contrary.

  Jake folded up the map again, without having had a chance to study it. While Louise was closing up the till he talked things over quietly with Shelley.

  “What’s up with this?” he asked, leaning across the table. “Why is she helping us?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m too tired to question it. It’ll be nice to have a quiet night without having to worry about wolves or having to get up and run again.”

  “I suppose, but I still don’t like it.” Jake made a note to keep his guard up. Louise seemed harmless and something of an offbeat character, but that did not mean he would blindly trust her. There had been too many odd characters on their path so far and there weren’t many they had been able to trust.

  With the till locked up, Louise held the door for them on the way out. She crossed the parking lot and got into an old Ford F150 pickup. It had probably been red at some point in its life. With a billow of smoke from the tailpipe she started the truck. Jake started up his car and backed out of the space and waited for her to lead the way.

  Right after she backed out, a man came walking around the corner. He looked familiar, but Jake could not remember where he had seen him or if he was friend or foe. The man got into Louise’s truck.

  “What the hell?” Jake said, and leaned forward to get a better look. The windows on the truck were smudged with dirt and salt spray from the road and he couldn’t see much.